Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has been generally against expanded instant replay because, in his words, it could open up a “pandora’s box.” But he has changed his mind on that as of Saturday night.

That game ended on a blown call in which Joey Votto was pulled off the first base bag on a throw yet Carlos Beltran was called out anyway. The replays were clear, the umpire missed it and instead of the bases being loaded for a Matt Holliday vs. Aroldis Chapman showdown everyone walked to the clubhouse. Yesterday he told Mike Bauman of MLB.com that he has finally come around and that replay is both necessary and inevitable:

“You just want the right thing to happen … You’ve got a chance before you guys walk into your locker room to get together and try to figure out the right thing. The system isn’t allowing it. I’ve always been kind of, ‘I don’t know,’ [on expanded replay] … But to get something, moving forward, for a play like that, it dictates a game. And I think you’ve seen enough of them this year. Major League Baseball would probably say we’ve seen too many of them. I think it’s one of those years when the writing is on the wall.”

I know people like to say that there is room for disagreement on replay. And, yes, I will grant that implementation of any new program will have its challenges. But there is no excuse not to get the calls right. There is no objection to instant replay which is as compelling as the argument that the proper calls need to be made.

Paxton, 30, has been among the game’s better starters over the past few years. In 2018, he went 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA and a 208/42 K/BB ratio in 160 1/3 innings. The lefty has two more years of arbitration eligibility remaining after earning $4.9 million this past season.

Sheffield, 22, is the headliner in the Mariners’ return. He made his major league debut in September for the Yankees, pitching 2 2/3 innings across three appearances. Two of those appearances were scoreless; in the third, he gave up a three-run home run to J.D. Martinez, certainly not an uncommon result among pitchers. MLB Pipeline rates Sheffield as the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect and No. 31 overall in baseball.

Thompson-Williams, 23, was selected by the Yankees in the fifth round of the 2016 draft. This past season, between Single-A Charleston and High-A Tampa, he hit .299/.363/.546 with 22 home runs, 74 RBI, 63 runs scored, and 20 stolen bases in 415 plate appearances. He was not among the Yankees’ top-30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline.

Swanson, 25, was selected by the Yankees in the eighth round of the 2014 draft. He spent most of his 2018 campaign between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Overall, he posted a 2.66 ERA with a 139/29 K/BB ratio in 121 2/3 innings. MLB Pipeline rated him No. 22 in the Yankees’ system.

This trade comes as no surprise as the Yankees clearly wanted to upgrade the starting rotation and the Mariners seemed motivated to trade Paxton this offseason. To the Mariners’ credit, they got a good return for Paxton, as Sheffield likely becomes the organization’s No. 1 prospect. The only worry about this trade for the Yankees is how Paxton will fare in the more hitter-friendly confines of Yankee Stadium compared to the spacious Safeco Field. The Yankees are likely not done adding, however. Expect even more new faces before the start of spring training.